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Re: New Chem for AFB

I am not in favor of antibiotics or chemical solutions in general. To me they are short term solutions. Fire works pretty good for stopping the spread of disease but I don't have thousands of hives at stake. If you are talking about saving the equipment a wax dunk might do the trick but I am not a biologist. I have only had control of infectious diseases from my medical experiences. At this point in time AFB is rare but it is a paranoia that lives on.

Re: New Chem for AFB

In some situations I might agree that a one time use of Antibiotics to control AFB may be in order. For example - if you discover an AFB outbreak early, dump the bees into new equipment, burn the old frames, scorch or wax dip the old boxes, and then treat the bees with an antibiotic in their new equipment, that may save the bees and leave you with a clean spore free colony.

The problem I see is misuse when Antibiotics for AFB are used prophylactically on all colonies at certain times of the year whether symptoms are seen or not. Some colonies may be laden with AFB spores but the antibiotic keeps the disease masked and the colony alive. Then when one of these colonies does happen to die out, robbers spread the disease as they carry spore tainted honey back to their neighboring colonies which are not being treated, they could be yours or mine. I personally think it's irresponsible management. Just my humble opinion.

Re: New Chem for AFB

Originally Posted by Mike Gillmore

In some situations I might agree that a one time use of Antibiotics to control AFB may be in order.

The only way to insure the one time use is to have a prescription system similar to our medical system. As with pesticides, if bulk quantities are dolled out the use is up to the individual. Abuse is bound to happen.

if you discover an AFB outbreak early, dump the bees into new equipment, burn the old frames, scorch or wax dip the old boxes, and then treat the bees with an antibiotic in their new equipment,

If you way the risk you are now risking infecting new equipment-twice the loss.
As an infection control I would feel comfortable with dumping the bees into a temporary hive, (maybe something completely made of paper and wax) with one antibiotic treatment. Then the old hive could be radiated, honey extracted and the equipment put back in use. After a period, say 3-6 months, if the temporary hive shows no sign of infection they could be put back into a permanent hive and the temporary hive burned.
A cost analysis could show that this method is more expensive than just burning the hive. That leaves insurance as the only recourse. Someone with many hives would get insurance to cover the loss as a normal business expense.